Abstract

The bud necrosis disease of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea
L.) was first reported from India by Reddy et al.
(1968). It was subsequently reported that bud necrosis
disease was caused by tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV)
(Ghanekar et al. 1979). Recent studies using advanced
serological techniques have shown that the causal agent
of bud necrosis disease is distinct from TSWV and it has
therefore been named bud necrosis virus (BNV)
(Sreenivasulu et al. 1991, Reddy et al. in press). Hence
BNV is considered to be a distinct member of the
tospovirus group